Out of intensive care, and now in the cardiac ward. Not hooked up to too much anymore, able to get up and go for short walks by ourselves, Larry is beginning to feel much better. It is good to be off the morphine drip, which has made him a little spaced out. He gets very tired and needs lots of rest. Home will be much quieter than the hospital environment.

The physios here have been great in helping deal with lung congestion due to fluid build up following the anaesthetic.

Larry, in intensive care, is already euphoric about how much easier breathing has become. Lots of the tubes have been removed, and he is looking, and feeling quite well. He has already been for a short walk and found it much easier than he expected. Clear fluids for lunch weren't all that exciting, so looking forward to solid food tomorrow.

Coughing overnight was a bit of a problem, so he is doing his breathing exercises a little more enthusiastically than he had been prior to the operation.

He has been cleared to leave intensive care as soon as there is a bed available in the cardio ward, probably tomorrow morning.

All in all, things are going well, and even with all our reading, much better than we hoped for.

Surgery day today. All went well, and now Larry, still under anaesthetic, appears to be resting comfortably, for the time being.

We arrived at the hospital at 6.45am, and by 7.45 Larry had been taken to be prepped for the procedure. It wasn't until 1.30pm that the doctor rang me to say that Larry was just leaving the operating theatre for intensive care. At 2.45pm we were finally allowed in to see him, still not conscious, and hooked up to a host of machines with a variety of tubing. He is to be kept sedated probably till the early hours of tomorrow.

It is good to have had the surgery, and to be looking forward to things getting better from now on.

Apprehension appears to have disappeared.
Went out to the local shopping mall with Lesley yesterday to have a yum cha at a favourite restaurant and buy a new dressing gown, pyjamas and slippers. Realised by the time I made it back to the car exhausted and hardly able to stay awake,that I was now effectively an invalid and that my cardiologist's time predictions were not overly dramatic at all.
Things can only get better and am really looking forward to a new life from the next few days.
Going to spend a very quite day re-reading Adam's book and the journals here.
Thanks to everyone that have conveyed the kind thoughts and words.
Lesley will take over the posts for the next few days.

Full day clinic at Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) starting at 7:15am.Final blood tests,swabs and urine tests together with last xrays and ECG first off, followed by talks by my Case Manager and Physios all hosted by the Cardiac Surgery Educator. Very informative video screened of what to expect the morning of admission, the anesthesia procedure and then what to expect in ICU and in the the week of recovery.As this video had been produced by the Cardiothoracic Department of RPA Hospital it was very specific and extremely useful. Afternoon taken up with interviews with Anesthetist and attending doctors in week of recovery. Was surprised that the protocol in valve replacement was that I would be kept under anesthesia for 24 hours +. Unlike all the other attendees I found I was most familiar with most aspects after having read Adam's book.Thank you Adam!

A very worthwhile day and went a long way to allaying most of my anxieties about next Tuesday.